Word: vtol
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Some time this year, NATO is supposed to select a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) plane, and even though Britain's P.1154 has a clear jump on the field, officials already are worried. "The U.S. could ask everybody to hold off and wait for theirs," said one Briton, and that might mean grave trouble for big planemakers like British Aircraft Corp. and Hawker Siddeley...
...shape last week with unusual interest. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara's announcement that the U.S. will contribute some $35 million toward further development of Britain's P-1127 airplane made it clear that the odd craft is well in front in the race to develop a VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) plane...
...convinced Pentagon authorities that it is two years ahead of U.S. rivals. It is built around the Bristol Siddeley BS-53 Pegasus, a remarkable jet engine that discharges large volumes of comparatively slow-speed air through four swiveling nozzles that can point either front, back or down. When the VTOL is ready for vertical takeoff, the pilot points all the nozzles down, revs the engine, and the plane rises straight up on an even keel. When sufficiently clear of the ground, the pilot turns the nozzles gradually rearward and accelerates smoothly into normal forward flight. The P-1127, which made...
Latest entry in the VTOL (Vertical take-off and landing) competition is the Bell X-14, which achieves vertical flight in a horizontal flying attitude by means of a Venetian blind. The X-14 has two Armstrong Siddeley jet engines that give more than 3,500 lbs. of thrust, their hot gas shooting out horizontally under the fuselage. When the X-14 is rigged to take off vertically, a system of vanes like a Venetian blind deflects the gas downward. The thrust, acting upward, lifts the craft off the ground...
...latest VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) airplane to do this trick successfully is Bell Aircraft Corp.'s X-14, whose pictures were made public last week. Unlike Ryan Aeronautical Co.'s X-13 (TIME, May 20), which stands on its tail while taking off, the X-14 takes off in normal horizontal flying position. Its two jet engines blow their gas through thrust-diverters rather like Venetian blinds. The gas, deflected downward, pushes the airplane up. During the hovering period, jets of compressed air act as controls to keep it in the proper position. After the airplane...